Published on: Friday, October 4, 2024

Today, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Thompson v. United States, No. 23-1095 (Oct. 4, 2024) (cert. granted), to resolve an issue that has divided the lower courts: whether 18 U.S.C. § 1014, which prohibits making a “false statement” for the purpose of influencing certain financial institutions and federal agencies, also prohibits making a statement that is misleading but not false.

Petitioner Patrick Daley Thompson, the grandson of former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley (1955-1976) and nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley (1989-2011), borrowed $110,000 from a bank in 2011.  He borrowed another $119,000 without any paperwork, for a total of $219,000 in loans from the same bank. The bank failed and was taken over by the FDIC in 2017.  A loan collector hired by the FDIC sent Thompson an invoice in 2018 for a loan balance of $269,120.58 (the principal balance plus a little more than $50,000 in accumulated interest). Thompson telephoned the collection agency and disputed that he owed $219,000 plus interest, stating that he had borrowed $110,000.  He eventually agreed to pay $219,000, the amount he borrowed but without interest.

More than two years later, Thompson was charged with two counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1014, a statute that criminalizes making a "false statement . . . for the purpose of influencing in any way the action" of the FDIC or a mortgage lending business, i.e., he falsely told FDIC and its collection agency that “he only owed $100,000 or $110,000 [to the bank] and that any higher amount was incorrect.”

After a jury trial, Thompson was convicted.  On appeal to the Seventh Circuit, Thompson argued that, because his statements were literally true, they were not false statements within the meaning of § 1014.  He claimed he never outright lied—he just said he borrowed $110,000, which is true even if he later borrowed more. The Seventh Circuit affirmed (opinion here).  

The circuits are split 3 to 4 on whether 18 U.S.C. § 1014 criminalizes the making of statements that are misleading but not false.  The First, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuits hold § 1014 prohibits only false statements. In the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth Circuits, § 1014 prohibits misleading statements as well as false statements. 

The certiorari stage briefing is available on the Supreme Court’s website here.